WGA Nominees Include Out-There Choices Like The Hangover

Before announcing their nominees for the year's best screenplays, the Writers Guild of America drudged up a whole ton of arcane rules that eliminated some pretty great contenders-- An Education, Inglourious Basterds, District 9, The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Up were all left in contention entirely. So don't have a heart attack when I tell you that the The Hangover, Julie & Julia and Star Trek were all nominated for awards today-- after all, there were only so many films left to choose from.

Awards Daily posted the full list of nominated screenplays in both original and adapted categories. Expected participants include (500) Days of Summer, A Serious Man, Up in the Air and Precious, while Avatar represents a slight curveball-- say what you will about the many great elements of Avatar, but lines like "Who'd you expect, numbnuts?" are certainly not among them.

As far as using these nominations as means for predicting Oscar, there's pretty much no way to do it-- Up and An Education will almost certainly be represented in their respective categories at the Academy, while I really might have a heart attack if The Hangover snags an Oscar nomination. I guess by eliminating so many films, the WGA really has made their awards stand alone, and that counts for something.

The full list of nominees is below:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

(500) Days of Summer, Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber; Fox SearchlightAvatar, Written by James Cameron; 20th Century FoxThe Hangover, Written by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore; Warner Bros.The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal; Summit EntertainmentA Serious Man, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen; Focus Features

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Crazy Heart, Screenplay by Scott Cooper; Based on the novel by Thomas Cobb; Fox SearchlightJulie & Julia, Screenplay by Nora Ephron; Based on the books Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex
Prud’homme; Sony PicturesPrecious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher; Based on the novel Push by Sapphire; LionsgateStar Trek, Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman; Based upon Star Trek, Created by Gene Roddenberry; Paramount PicturesUp in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner; Based upon the novel by Walter Kirn; Paramount Pictures